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Cape Town - Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has lauded the character displayed by Morné Steyn after the Bulls pivot regained his best form.
Steyn, who struggled with his goal-kicking last year, has been back to his best for the Bulls in this year's Super Rugby competition, helping them to the top of the South African conference and second on the overall log.
He was subsequently rewarded with the Springbok No 10 jersey for Saturday's first Test of the year against Italy at Kings Park.
"I'm really happy for Morné that he's back to his best," Meyer told Die Burger.
"It just shows how much character he has. He was written off last year, but I always knew he'd be back to his best.
"I've never seen Morné miss a practice session. He always gives 100% and was over-worked last year.
"Morne's had a good off-season and is back to his very best. His kicking is again where it should be, he attacks the gain-line and it's nice to nice that he's regained some pace as well.
"It's important that he plays well for us, especially with so many inexperienced players around," concluded Meyer.
The clash at Kings Parks kicks off at 17:15 on Saturday.
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Beast Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein
Italy:
15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke Mclean, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi
Substitutes: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Joshua Furno, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Tommaso Iannone
Steyn, who struggled with his goal-kicking last year, has been back to his best for the Bulls in this year's Super Rugby competition, helping them to the top of the South African conference and second on the overall log.
He was subsequently rewarded with the Springbok No 10 jersey for Saturday's first Test of the year against Italy at Kings Park.
"I'm really happy for Morné that he's back to his best," Meyer told Die Burger.
"It just shows how much character he has. He was written off last year, but I always knew he'd be back to his best.
"I've never seen Morné miss a practice session. He always gives 100% and was over-worked last year.
"Morne's had a good off-season and is back to his very best. His kicking is again where it should be, he attacks the gain-line and it's nice to nice that he's regained some pace as well.
"It's important that he plays well for us, especially with so many inexperienced players around," concluded Meyer.
The clash at Kings Parks kicks off at 17:15 on Saturday.
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Beast Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein
Italy:
15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke Mclean, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi
Substitutes: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Joshua Furno, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Tommaso Iannone
